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The year is 1965: An angry young teen named Heather gets dropped off at an isolated all-girls school filled with bitchy students, strange teachers, and nightmare-filled nights. And oh yes, the place is surrounded with killer trees.

IS IT A GOOD MOVIE?

After being hyped up for Lucky McKee's previous movie, MAY, my long-awaited viewing of it left me pretty disappointed. Sure, the film was intriguingly bizarre and stylishly directed, but on the whole, the experience underwhelmed me. So it was with a little excitement, but mostly trepidation, that I traveled into THE WOODS (har har).

Although the overall film is decidedly decent, it's easy to see why it didn't get a theatrical release. The story has been done many times before, and much better (it's impossible to miss the resemblance to SUSPIRIA, which THE WOODS feels like a slight homage to). Not only that, but it's very slow paced. The first half hour has some very solid build-up, but after that, it's just the same shit happening time and time again. The payoff is also weak. Aside from about ten seconds of Bruce Campbell (who has a very brief and minor part) being a badass, the ending delivers exactly what you would've guessed twenty minutes prior. Harumph.

Also, horror fans should note just how not scary this movie is. The suspense throughout is literally nonexistent. That's not to say certain "horror" parts of the film don't garner some interest - they do - it's just not frightening. Fortunately though, when it comes to style and visual flair, that's where the movie pays off its dues (the balancing trick with the broken radio looked awesome!). I gotta admit, even though Lucky McKee hasn't exactly impressed me with his storytelling abilities, he certainly knows what he's doing on the technical side of things (A-plus work with the music, cinematography, editing, etc.). If you liked his work on MAY, then THE WOODS should impress just the same, even if the flat story doesn't.

THE EXTRAS

Aside from a bunch of Previews, Sony has really screwed the fans over on this one with a whopping ZERO extras (they actually threw out the commentary and featurettes... bastards).

FINAL DIAGNOSIS

Ok, you've got killer freakin' trees shooting through windows and attacking people - how can that not be entertaining? Well, this movie shows you. It's sort of hard to fault the film though, because, while parts of it are a little boring, the strong direction really amps up the entertainment factor. It may not be the knockout second feature fans were hoping for, but it doesn't deserve the snubbing it's gotten thus far. If you enjoyed MAY, at least rent it.